Mariners claim Lawrence, recall Curtis

TORONTO -- The Mariners recalled left-handed reliever Zac Curtis from Double-A Arkansas on Thursday, and they optioned right-hander Dan Altavilla to Triple-A Tacoma in another bullpen shuffle as the team opens a four-game series against the Blue Jays.

Seattle also claimed right-handed reliever Casey Lawrence from Toronto, and it assigned him to Tacoma after opening a 40-man roster spot by moving veteran reliever Evan Scribner from the 10-day disabled list to the 60-day DL.

TORONTO -- The Mariners recalled left-handed reliever Zac Curtis from Double-A Arkansas on Thursday, and they optioned right-hander Dan Altavilla to Triple-A Tacoma in another bullpen shuffle as the team opens a four-game series against the Blue Jays.

Seattle also claimed right-handed reliever Casey Lawrence from Toronto, and it assigned him to Tacoma after opening a 40-man roster spot by moving veteran reliever Evan Scribner from the 10-day disabled list to the 60-day DL.

Curtis joins the Mariners for the first time after posting three saves and a 3.21 ERA in 10 outings for Arkansas. The 24-year-old was acquired as part of a five-player deal with the D-backs in November that also brought Jean Segura and Mitch Haniger to Seattle in exchange for Taijuan Walker and Ketel Marte.

Curtis said he'd just got back to Arkansas on an off-day for the Travelers, and was home with his wife and son when he got the call from the Mariners.

"I was napping with our 3-year-old, and felt my phone vibrate," he said. "I was going to just leave it, but I looked at it, saw a Seattle number I didn't know, so I thought I better answer it. And it was a good call."

Curtis made his Major League debut with the D-backs in 2016, going 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA in 13 1/3 innings. He recorded 10 strikeouts and 13 walks over 21 appearances.

Altavilla appeared in three games with the Mariners after being recalled from Tacoma this past week, and he gave up two runs on four hits in three innings. Overall, he is 1-1 with a 6.97 ERA in 12 games with Seattle this season.

Manager Scott Servais said the move to add Curtis was to "get a fresh arm" after Altavilla pitched back-to-back days, as the team goes with several unproven starters in Toronto due to a rash of injuries to the rotation.

"We're going to be very fluid as we go through this stuff with our starting rotation," Servais said. "We're just trying to keep as many fresh arms available as we can. You may not see the game managed in the traditional fashion. You might see guys getting pulled in the fourth inning, just where they're at, kind of like we did with Dillon Overton and Christian Bergman the other day."

Lawrence was designated for assignment by the Blue Jays on Tuesday after going 0-3 with an 8.78 EA in four games, including two starts. In three starts with Triple-A Buffalo prior to being recalled, he was 1-0 with an 0.90 ERA with one walk and seven strikeouts in 10 innings.

Servais hasn't named a starter yet for Saturday, and Lawrence conceivably could be a candidate, though the club also has Overton and Sam Gaviglio, who was called up from Tacoma on Wednesday, if they aren't needed in long relief in the next two games.

"We won't see him here right now," Servais said of Lawrence. "That doesn't mean we won't see him very soon with kind of the flux we're in, but we'll see what we've got.

In parts of eight Minor League seasons. Lawrence is 64-60 with a 3.80 ERA in 172 games (161 starts).

Scribner was placed on the 10-day disabled list with a flexor bundle strain in his right elbow on April 29, and he will miss extended time after going 0-2 with an 11.05 ERA in eight outings with the Mariners in April.